The paper, titled ‘Human Recognition and Economic Development: An Introduction and Theoretical Model’, includes a qualitative exposition of human recognition which is defined in the paper as the extent to which an individual is acknowledged by others to be of inherent value by virtue of being a fellow human being. The paper then presents a formal model that describes provision and receipt of human recognition, its contribution to utility, its effects on health, and its role in development programs.

By defining and formally modelling human recognition and its role in economic development for the first time, the paper identifies a new component of economic development and offers an example of how such intangible components can be formally modelled.